sending of the Holy Spirit. In and by him he is present with his disciples in their ministry and their assemblies. And whenever Christ leaves the world, the church must do so too ; for it is his presence alone which puts men into that condition, or invests them with that privilege : for so he saith, " I will dwell in them, and walk in them ; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people," 2 Cor- vi. 16; Lev. xxvi. 12. Their being the "people of God," so as there- withal to be " the temple of the living God," — that is, to be brought into a sacred church-state for his worship, — depends on his " dwelling in them and walking in them." And this he doth by his Spirit alone ; for, " Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?" 1 Cor. iii. 16. He, therefore, so far represents the person, and supplies the bodily absence of Christ, that on his presence the being of the church, the success of the ministry, and the edification of the whole, do absolutely depend. And this, if any thing in the whole gospel, deserves our serious consideration ; for, — 1. The Lord Jesus hath told us that his presence with us by his Spirit is better and more expedient for us than the continuance of his bodily presence. Now, who is there that hath any affection for Christ but thinks that the carnal presence of the human nature of Christ would be of unspeakable advantage unto him? And so, no doubt, it would, had any such thing been designed or appointed in the wisdom and love of God, But so it is not ; and, on the other side, we are commanded to look for more advantage and benefit by his spiritual presence with us, or his presence with us by the Holy Ghost, It is, therefore, certainly incumbent on us to inquire dili- gently what valuation we have hereof, and what benefit we have hereby; for if we find not that we really receive grace, assistance, and consolation, from this presence of Christ with us, we have no benefit at all by him nor from him, for he is now no otherwise for these ends with any but by his Spirit. And this they will one day find whose profession is made up of such a sottish contradiction as to avow an honour for Jesus Christ, and yet blaspheme his Spirit in all his holy operations, 2. The Lord Christ having expressly pro- mised to be present with us to the end of all things, there are great inquiries how that promise is accomplished. Some say he is present with us by his ministers and ordinances ; but how, then, is he present with those ministers themselves, unto whom the promise of his pre- sence is made in an especial manner? The Paj^ists would have him carnally and bodily present in the sacrament; but he himself hath told us that " the flesh," in such a sense, " profiteth nothing," John vi. 63, and that it is the " Spirit alone that quickeneth," The Lutherans fancy an omnipresence, or ubiquity of his human nature, by virtue of its personal union; but this is destructive of that na-
CHAP, v.] IN THE NEW CREATION. 195
ture itself, wliicli being made to be everywhere, as such a nature, is truly nowhere; and the most learned among them are ashamed of this imagination. The words of Schmidt on Eph. iv. 10, "im TXrjpoJsrj TO, 'Trdvra, are worthy of consideration: — "Per ra •Trdvra, aliqui intelli- gunt totum mundum, seu totum universum hoc, exponuntque ut omni- praesentia sua omnibus in mundo locis adesset, loca omnia implendo: et hi verbum vXrjpuGf] de physica et crassa impletione accipiunt; quam tamen talis 'n'Xripuffig seu impletio locorum in mundo omnium quae vel expansionem coi'poream in quantitate continua, vel multi- plication em, imo iufinitam multitudinem unius ejusdemque corporis in discreta pr^supponit, et ex humana speculatione orta est, falsoque nostris ecclesiis afiingitur" (wherein yet he confesseththat it is taught) ; "ne cogitanda quid em sit piohomini; sed potius omniprsesentia Christi hominis — uti promissa est, modo nobis ineffabili credi, et multo cer- tius aliunde sciri possit ex ipsius promissione," Matt, xxviii. 20. This way, as we say with the Scripture, is by his Spirit, the perfect manner of whose presence and operation is ineffable.
Fourthly, As he represents the person and supplies the room and , place of Jesus Christ, so he worketh and effecteth whatever the Lord Christ hath taken upon himself to work and effect towards his disciples. Wherefore, as the work of the Son was not his own work, but rather the " work of the Father who sent him," and in whose name he performed it, so the work of the Holy Spirit is not his own work, but rather the work of the Son, by whom he is sent, and in whose name he doth accomplish it: John xvi. 13-15, "Howbeit when the Spirit of truth is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak : and he will show you things to come. He shall glorify me : for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you. All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall show it unto you." He comes to reveal and communicate truth and grace to the disciples of Christ ; and in his so doing he " speaks not of himself," that is, of himself only. He comes not with any absolute new dispensation of truth or grace, distinct or different from that which is in and by the Lord Christ, and which they had heard from him. The Holy Spirit being promised unto the disciples, and all their work and duty being suspended on the accomplishment of that promise, whereas he is God, they might suppose that he would come with some absolute new dispensation of truth, so that what they had learned and received from Christ should pass away and be of no use unto them. To prevent any such ap- prehension, he lets them know that the work he had to do was only to carry on and build on the foundation which was laid in his per- son or doctrine, or the truth which he had revealed from the bosom